City of Angles

Promises

Tom Hanks won't be a marital castaway if wife Rita Wilson has anything to say about it. The couple, who married in 1988, are still going strong despite the epidemic of Hollywood splits that has sent Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman to divorce court. "We'll never break up. It'll never happen. We promised the kids," Wilson said as she snuggled with her husband at the Governors Ball.

If he was disappointed at being aced by "Gladiator" Russell Crowe for the best actor Oscar, Hanks, who already has two golden boys at home, didn't let on. "I've already been very fortunate," he said. As for the mustache Hanks has sported since the Golden Globes, "It's for a role. I would never do this myself," he said. "But my body is a canvas." Compared with packing on and peeling off a few dozen pounds for "Castaway" and "Philadelphia," sprouting a cheesy little mustache seems easy.

Overheard

"Remember what I said. Don't get too close to the civilians," cautioned a burly handler who steered Hilary Swank, with husband Chad Lowe in tow, toward her limo after the actress handed a security guard a freebie pop-up book as she left the Shrine Auditorium.

Counting Crowes

Best actor Crowe was big on handshakes but short on quotes as he worked the Governors Ball and DreamWorks' impromptu candlelit party at Dominick's in West Hollywood. We did overhear him telling an Australian television crew how good it felt to win over "hometown boy" Hanks. "It was a great compliment," Crowe said. The two women with Maximus, as he sipped beer and smoked cigarettes, were his mom and his publicist. He let a couple of bartenders hoist his Oscar before he slipped out a back door. As he left, another Crowe entered the party. Cameron Crowe said winning the original screenplay Oscar for writing about his life as a teen rock journalist was a "very spacey" experience. "I got to thank my mom and sister from the stage," he said. "It grounded me to look out there and see them."

King of Hollywood?

CNN's Larry King, who has played himself in 20 films, including "The Contender," schmoozed with California First Lady Sharon Davis and Arianna Huffington at Spago Hollywood's party. "My dream is to play someone other than myself," he said.

Hot Spots

The Vanity Fair party at Morton's was jumping. Where else could you see Monica Lewinsky dining with Dominick Dunne, and Denise Rich noshing with Dylan McDermott? Lewinsky showed no interest in meeting Rich at the magazine's dinner party for 150 of its closest celebrity friends. At the after-party, Sean "Puffy" Combs danced with Stella McCartney and shared a quiet moment with former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, whose date, Chris Judd, looked none too pleased. Oscar sweetheart Julia Roberts got a round of applause and high fives from the boys when she ducked into the men's room. (The line to the ladies' loo proved too long.) And Elizabeth Hurley endured a brief crisis after losing a $750,000 Harry Winston diamond bracelet. But catastrophe was averted when New York Observer columnist Frank DiGiacomo found the bauble on the floor.

Elton John's party was just steps away at Moomba. Hurley and Mena Suvari were among the first to arrive. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones came hand in hand. Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown sat among the civilians. In the VIP room, Sting held court with wife Trudie Styler, who spent the night untangling other people's stiletto heels from the train of her gown. Best actor nominee Geoffrey Rush ("Quills") offered his take on the Marquis De Sade's writing ("schlock"). "Sex and the City" actor Christopher Noth said that it's frustrating when people on the street hail him as Mr. Big. Could be worse, he admits: "It could be Puff Daddy." Luckily, Puff Daddy was out of earshot.

The party people raved about Steve Martin's classy, comic turn as Oscar emcee. Asked at Moomba if he'd ever consider hosting the awards ceremony, Jay Leno said no. "I already have a job," he explained.

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Times staff writers Louise Roug and Gina Piccalo contributed to this column.